Calendar Notes
NEXT MEETING:
Wednesday, September 15 / 10:00AM-12:00 PM Enumclaw Library - 1700 First Street, 98022
September Speaker:
Heather Meier
Our September speaker will be Heather Meier, Editor of the Puyallup, Washington Herald, a newspaper serving Puyallup, South Hill, Sumner, Bonney Lake, Edgewood. Her commitment to the people of East Pierce County is evident by Heather’s 50 individual and newspaper awards, including The Herald’s second place general excellence award for Inland Press’ national newspaper contest in 2009.
Like any good story, Heather Meier’s journey into journalism has a clear lead: She killed her flies.
Really, it’s as simple that. She went off to Pacific Lutheran University with the plan of double majoring in biology and chemistry before heading off to medical school. But early in that quest, she was required to mutate flies. Each day, she was to anesthetize the flies and then count them — too little ether and they would fly around the room; too much and they would die. She killed the whole lot on the first try. But the timing worked to her advantage.
While sitting through classes on photosynthesis, she was also staying up late at night to put together the school newspaper. That, she discovered, tickled her fancy much more than any biology class ever did. She had dabbled in journalism in high school but this was different. It ignited a passion she just couldn’t ignore.
Her first internship, at the now-defunct Lakewood Journal, sealed the deal, especially when her editor sent her to cover a murder trial. Her second was at Munich Found in Germany, where she interviewed in her shoddy German and then wrote in English.During her senior year of college, she was hired at The News Tribune of Tacoma as a page designer and reporter. She stayed there for three years before moving on to The Herald, which covers East Pierce County. As the editor, Heather infuses her connection for community into the pages of The Herald.
Heather could go on and on about journalism but thinks knowing your audience is of vital importance. Whether spoken or not, it’s something that comes into play on a daily basis at The Herald. Heather says, “We don’t try to be a large, metropolitan daily and readers appreciate that. It’s something for every writer to keep in mind.” She will be discussing various aspects and issues regarding a writer’s audience.
PAWA on the KING-FM Arts Channel!
On August 11, 2009, our President Robert Gaylord, our VP Richard Brugger, and our PR Officer/Webmaster Diana Fairbank did an interview with Marta Zekan, Director of KING-FM's Arts Channel about PAWA.
Part 1 of interview here.
Part 2 here.
Click image for printable pdf enlargement.
PAWA President Robert Gaylord & KING-FM Arts Channel Director Marta Zekan
